Cox's Orange Pippin

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'Cox's Orange Pippin'
Cox orange renette2.JPG
Genus Malus
Species Malus domestica
Hybrid parentage 'Margil' X 'Rosemary Russet'[ citation needed ]
Cultivar 'Cox's Orange Pippin'
OriginUnited Kingdom, 1830

Cox's Orange Pippin, in Britain often referred to simply as Cox, is an apple cultivar first grown in 1825[ citation needed ] or 1830 [1] at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox.

Contents

Though the parentage of the cultivar is unknown, Ribston Pippin seems a likely candidate. DNA analysis of major apple pedigrees has suggested Margil as the parent of Cox, with Ribston Pippin being another Margil seedling. [2] The variety was introduced for sale by the 1850s by Charles Turner, and grown commercially from the 1860s, particularly in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire, and later in Kent.[ citation needed ]

Description and uses

Fruit seen from stem end Coxorange2.poupou.jpg
Fruit seen from stem end
Cox Orange Pippin Cross section of Cox's Orange Pippin (LA 62D), National Fruit Collection (acc. 1966-148).jpg
Cox Orange Pippin

'Cox's Orange Pippin' is highly regarded for its excellent flavour and attractive appearance. The apples are of medium size, orange-red in colour, deepening to bright red and mottled with carmine over a deep yellow background. The flesh is very aromatic, yellow-white, fine-grained, crisp, and very juicy. Cox's flavour is sprightly subacid, with hints of cherry and anise, becoming softer and milder with age. When ripe apples are shaken, the seeds make a rattling sound as they are only loosely held in the apple's flesh. [3]

Cox's Orange Pippin is often blended with other varieties in the production of cider and is also used to produce high-quality apple juice, particularly in artisanal or premium cold-pressed forms. [4]

Cultivation

Illustration of the fruit A "Cox's" Orange Pippin apple (Malus sylvestris cv.). Colour Wellcome V0044426.jpg
Illustration of the fruit

According to the Institute of Food Research, [6] Cox's Orange Pippin accounts for over 50% of the UK acreage of dessert apples. The tree is a moderate grower and is annually productive. However, it can be difficult to grow in many environments, and tends to be susceptible to diseases such as scab, mildew, and canker, so it is rarely grown commercially in North America. [7] Cox's Orange Pippin is also grown in Belgium and in the Netherlands, countries with a climate similar to that of Great Britain. In addition to the cultivation of Cox sports, apple breeders have hybridised Cox with other varieties to improve vigour, disease resistance, and yield, while attempting to retain the unique qualities of Cox's flavour. [8]

Typical crop yield in kg [5]
YearRootstock M27Rootstock M9Rootstock M26
312.51.7
42.63.42.6
5355
68.61518.3
Typical size distribution [9]
-55mm55-60mm60-65mm65-70mm70-75mm75-80mm
6%19%38%28%6%3%

Sports

Cox La Vera Cross section of Cox La Vera, National Fruit Collection (acc. 2000-120).jpg
Cox La Vera
Crimson Cox Cross section of Crimson Cox, National Fruit Collection (acc. 1957-238).jpg
Crimson Cox

A number of sports of Cox's Orange Pippin have been discovered over subsequent years and propagated. These retain "Cox" in their names, e.g., Cherry Cox, Crimson Cox, King Cox, and Queen Cox.

Sports
NameOriginDiscovered / Introduced
BledisloeNew Zealand1932/1934
Cherry CoxDenmark1942/
Cox La VeraNetherlands1986/
Cox Orange KortegaardDenmark1914/
Crimson CoxHerefordshire, Englandc. 1913 / c. 1928
King CoxWorcestershire, England
Queen CoxBerkshire, England
Mendocino Cox[ citation needed ]Northern California, USA
King Cox Cross section of King Cox (Giles), National Fruit Collection (acc. 1960-039).jpg
King Cox

Descendant cultivars

Cultivar name (female parent × male parent)

'Allington Pippin' Malus domestica Allington Pippin 03.JPG
'Allington Pippin'
Elstar Cross section of Elstar, National Fruit Collection (acc. 1974-005).jpg
Elstar

References

  1. Beach, S.A.; Booth, N.O.; Taylor, O.M. (1905), "Cox Orange", The apples of New York, vol. 2, Albany: J. B. Lyon, pp. 42–43
  2. Muranty, Hélène; Denancé, Caroline; Feugey, Laurence; Crépin, Jean-Luc; Barbier, Yves; Tartarini, Stefano; Ordidge, Matthew; Troggio, Michela; Lateur, Marc; Nybom, Hilde; Paprstein, Frantisek (2020-01-02). "Using whole-genome SNP data to reconstruct a large multi-generation pedigree in apple germplasm". BMC Plant Biology. 20 (1): 2. doi: 10.1186/s12870-019-2171-6 . ISSN   1471-2229. PMC   6941274 . PMID   31898487.
  3. The Food Coach: Healthy Food Database
  4. "Jus Pomme Cox's". Alain Milliat (in French). Retrieved 2025-06-15.
  5. 1 2 Petzold Herbert, Apfelsorten, 1990
  6. "Apple facts". Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  7. "United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service". Archived from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  8. Apple Breeding in New Zealand
  9. Silbereisen, Robert; Götz, Gerhard; Hartmann, Walter; Tambour, Gisela; Eberle, Christl (1996). Obstsorten – Atlas. Ulmer (Eugen). ISBN   9783800155378.
  10. 1 2 3 4 K. M. Evans, A. Patocchi, F. Rezzonico, F. Mathis, C. E. Durel, F. Fernández-Fernández, A. Boudichevskaia, F. Dunemann, M. Stankiewicz-Kosyl, L. Gianfranceschi, M. Komjanc, M. Lateur, M. Madduri, Y. Noordijk, W. E. van de Weg (2011). Genotyping of pedigreed apple breeding material with a genome-covering set of SSRs: trueness-to-type of cultivars and their parentages Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine . Molecular Breeding28 (4): 535–547. doi : 10.1007/s11032-010-9502-5

10 Howard, N. P., Micheletti, D., Luby, J. J., Durel, C. E., Denancé, C., Muranty, H., … Albach, D. C. (2022). Pedigree reconstruction for triploid apple cultivars using single nucleotide polymorphism array data. Plants People Planet, (March), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10313

Further reading